Rogue State (Book)
Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower is a book published in 2000 (second edition published in 2005) by William Blum examining US imperialism during and following the Cold War, discussing terrorism, assassinations, coups, election interference, torture, chemical weapons, drug trafficking and UN declarations. Summary Ours and Theirs: Washington's Love/Hate Relationship with Terrorists and Human-Rights Violators 1. Why Do Terrorists Keep Picking on the United States? 2. America's Gift to the World — the Afghan Terrorist Alumni 3. Assassinations 4. Excerpts from US Army and CIA Training Manuals 5. Torture 6. The Unsavories 7. Training New Unsavories 8. War Criminals: Theirs and Ours 9. Haven for Terrorists 10. Supporting Pol Pot United States Use of Weapons of Mass Destruction 11. Bombings 12. Depleted Uranium 13. Cluster Bombs 14. United States Use of Chemical and Biological Weapons Abroad 15. United States Use of Chemical and Biological Weapons at Home 16. Encouragement of the Use of CBW by Other Nations A Rogue State versus the World 17. A Concise History of United States Global Interventions, 1945 to the Present The most comprehensive list of US interventions (ie direct support for regime change, dictatorships or a direct invasion) ever compiled as of 2005: * China, 1945 - 1951: US supports Chiang Kai-Shek's Nationalists in the Chinese Civil War and continues to aid them in exile from northern Myanmar, where the CIA uses Air America to fund and supply the army in exile and their attacks into China. * France, 1947: US supports the Corsican Mafia and allows them to set up heroin labs and trade routes (which would go on to have disastrous consequences) in exchange for their help in cracking down on communist-linked trade unions in Marseilles through murder, arson and blackmail. In exchange for Marshall Plan aid, the French government was forced to dismiss communist members of government. * Marshall Islands, 1946 - 1958: US conducts dozens of nuclear weapons tests in the Marshall Islands, heavily irradiating several islands and forcing thousands of people to leave their homes and culture. * Italy, 1947 - 1972: US interferes in Italian government by exchanging Marshall Plan aid for the dismissal of communist ministers (and threatening to withhold food aid) ensuring that the next 6 Italian elections were won by pro-american candidates. * Greece, 1947 - 1949: US interferes in the Greek Civil War and assists the neo-fascists against the communist partisan fights who were heroes for fighting the Nazis in World War II. The neo-fascists won and the CIA helped them create their secret police. * Philippines, 1945 - 1953: US begins fighting off leftist Huk forces during World War II (despite the Huk aiding in expelling the Japanese Empire) and rigged several elections, ensuring pro-american candidates would win, and eventually sponsoring the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos. * Korea, 1945 - 1953: US destroys popular leftist organisations (which had formed a resistance network against Japan) and put conservative elites (who had collaborated with Japan) in power and helped destroy efforts to unify Korea. During the Korean War, the US committed a number of brutal war crimes and massacres (which were all for nothing) and sponsored authoritarian regimes in South Korea for the next 30 years. * Albania, 1949 - 1953: US sponsors numerous fascist exiles to try and overthrow the leftist government of Albania and install a conservative monarchist regimes. * Eastern Europe, 1948 - 1956: US installs double agents into security agencies of the Warsaw Pact, leading to massive amount of paranoia and purges which kill hundreds of people and puts hundreds of thousands of people in jail. * Germany, 1950s: US engages in terrorism and sabotage against East Germany and in West Germany develops a list of 200 social democrats and 15 communists to be killed in the event of a Soviet Invasion. The development of Operation Gladio also allows the CIA to covertly support bombings and discredit leftists across Western Europe to drum up fear of communism. * Iran, 1953: US-British intelligence agencies overthrow the government of Iran, which planned to nationalise British oil interests to pay for social programs. The new government privatised the oil, and unleashed a brutal wave of repression and torture by secret police until the Iranian Revolution in 1979. * Guatemala, 1953 - 1990s: US sponsors a military coup to overthrow a democratically elected progressive government that focused on land reform and public education. The next 40 years of Guatemala's history see a horrible civil war filled with mass killings and torture of the indigenous population, killing 200,000 people. Despite official peace in 1996, death squads still roam the country, trained by the US. * Costa Rica, 1950s - 1971: US sponsors multiple assassination attempts on the centrist president of Costa Rica for not being too tough on the left. These efforts fail. * Middle East, 1956 - 1958: US attempts to overthrow the government of Syria twice, overthrow the government of Egypt once, invades Lebanon and supports the dictatorship in Jordan. All to prevent the rise of Arab Nationalism, a leftist nationalist movement aiming to build an independent and united Arab community. * Indonesia, 1957 - 1958: US attempts to topple the nationalist government of Indonesia through bombing runs, military coups, assassination attempts and election interference. * Haiti, 1959: US helps repress a popular, leftist uprising against the brutal dictatorship in Haiti. * Western Europe, 1950s - 1960s: US uses billions to sponsor pro-american and anti-socialist media, trade unions, political parties and student groups across Western Europe. * British Guiana/Guyana, 1953 - 1964: US forces the independent president of Guyana, Cheddi Jagan, to resign using a number of pressures for his successful social democracy. * Iraq, 1958 - 1963: US threatens the newly independent republic with invasion and sanctions, and later sponsors guerilla forces in the north. * USSR, 1940s - 1960s: US supports sabotage across the USSR, including derailing trains, blowing up bridges and destroying weapons factories and supporting resistance movements to destabilise the USSR. * Vietnam, 1945 - 1973: US supports to efforts of the French Empire to recolonise Vietnam after the efforts of Vietnamese guerillas to liberate themselves from the Japanese Empire. The US then took over the efforts to recolonise Vietnam after the French failed and Vietnam turned towards socialism. The US attacked for 20 years, destroying much of the environment, population, cities and gene pool with chemical weapons. * Cambodia, 1955 - 1975: US attempts to meddle in Cambodian politics, and upon Cambodia's efforts toward independence, the US began massive carpet bombings that killed hundreds of people, allowing for the rise of the Khmer Rouge, which the US later supported. * Laos, 1957 - 1973: US supports nearly one coup a year to stop the leftist Pathet Lao form taking power, and after this fails, drops two million bombs (more than what were dropped in all of World War II) killing hundreds of thousands of people, damaging the environment and leaving thousands of unexploded bombs across the countryside. * Thailand, 1965 - 1973: US supports a brutally repressive dictatorship in Thailand and trains the army and police in counter-insurgency tactics to destroy anti-imperialist and leftist movements. * Ecuador, 1960 - 1963: US overthrows the government for refusing to cut ties with Cuba, leading to a new dictatorship. * Congo/Zaire, 1960 - 1978: US helps overthrow the democratic government in Zaire, and installs a new dictatorship that is so brutal and corrupt it even shocks the CIA. The US helps quell rebellions in the area to prevent leftism. * France/Algeria, 1960s: US plans for a military coup and assassination of the French president Charles de Gaulle to prevent Algerian independence. * Brazil, 1961 - 1964: US overthrows a democratic government in Brazil to sponsor a far-right military dictatorship that destroys the countries democratic institutions and rules for the next 20 years. * Peru, 1965: US helps the Peruvian government destroy leftist movements. * Dominican Republic, 1963 - 1965: US sponsors a coup and later invades the Dominican Republic to prevent the rise of a social democracy. * Cuba, 1959 - Present: US sponsors 40 years of terrorist attacks, bombings, invasions, sanctions, embargoes, isolation, assassination to try and force Cuba to terminate its socialist experiment. * Indonesia, 1965: US sponsors a military coup led by Suharto, who leads a massive terrorist campaign that killed between half a million to three million as many more are tortured, raped and have their houses burned down for expressing leftist thoughts and opinions. US sells arms to Indonesia and the CIA even helps assassinate communists in the country. * Ghana, 1966: US sponsors a coup in Ghana to prevent the country becoming too independent from the west. * Uruguay, 1969 - 1972: US funds and trains the police in Uruguay to wipe out the Tupamaros leftist group. * Chile, 1964 - 1973: US interferes in elections to prevent communists taking power democratically, this fails, and the US sponsors a brutal military dictatorship. * Greece, 1967 - 1974: US sponsors a military dictatorship and far-right dictatorship to prevent Greece from exiting NATO, and US trains the secret police in brutal torture techniques. * South Africa, 1960s - 1980s: US helps the government crack down on anti-racist and anti-apartheid organisations for their leftist memberships. The US also helps train police in counter-insurgency and violates sanctions over the brutality under apartheid. * Bolivia, 1964 - 1975: US sponsors a military coup and helps create an 11-year long dictatorship that cracks down on the left and organised labor. * Australia, 1972 - 1975: US helps in a civilian coup against the social democratic government in Australia for wanting to nationalise the countries rich mineral resources and close US military bases. * Iraq, 1972 - 1975: US sponsors guerilla forces in the north to destabilize the country for not bowing to US oil interests, when they start to, they abandon the guerillas and help the government repress them. * Portugal, 1974 - 1976: US interferes in elections to prevent leftist groups coming to power after the Carnation Revolution and Portugal wanting to leave NATO. * East Timor, 1975 - 1999: US supports the Indonesian invasion of East Timor in response to the taking of power by a leftist group after Portuguese decolonisation. The occupation was one of the most brutal in history, involving famines, concentration camps, sex trafficking and mass murder. * Angola, 1975 - 1980s: US supports rebel groups in Angola, leading to the USSR to support the government, turning a small conflict into a long and bloody civil war that kills 700,000 people. * Jamaica, 1976: US attempts to rig elections in Jamaica to stop Michael Manley from being president (over his diplomatic relations with Cuba), it fails. * Honduras, 1980s: US turns Honduras into a client-state that holds US corporations, US military bases, US-backed terrorists in Nicaragua (Contras) and also helps the military kill insurgencies. * Nicaragua, 1978 - 1990: US supports far-right terrorists to overthrow the leftist government in Nicaragua, they engage in terrorist acts like kidnapping and rape, burning down schools and hospitals. * Philippines, 1970s - 1990s: US supports a corrupt, murderous dictatorships and helps put down numerous uprisings. * Seychelles, 1979 - 1981: US supports an attempted coup by South African mercenaries to overthrow the socialist government in Seychelles. The coup fails as the mercenaries are killed or captured at the countries main airport. * Chad, 1981 - 1982: In order to subvert Libya, the US backs a coup in Chad, leading to a murderous dictatorship that kills thousands of people. * Grenada, 1979 - 1983: The US attempts to destablise the newly socialist nation of Grenada, but fails, so they invade it and prop up US business interests. * Suriname, 1982 - 1984: The US plans an invasion, but backs out after the Netherlands finds out. * Libya, 1981 - 1989: The US uses bombings, shoots down Libyan planes and engages in economic warfare to try and overthrow the government of Libya. * Fiji, 1987: The US supports a military coup in Fiji against a left-leaning government that opposed nuclear weapons testing. * Panama, 1989: The US bombs and invades Panama to get rid of a former ally (who was a notable drug trafficker) to prevent a leftist coming to power...? 18. Perverting Elections * Philippines, 1950s: US manipulates elections by bribing candidates and the media, and then drugging one of the rival candidates before a speech. * Lebanon, 1950s: US funds pro-american candidates, interfering in elections. * Indonesia, 1955: US interferes in Indonesian elections by funding anti-communist candidates. * Vietnam, 1955: US interferes in South Vietnamese elections to prevent unification. 19. Trojan Horse: The National Endowment for Democracy 20. The US versus the World at the United Nations 21. Eavesdropping on the Planet 22. Kidnapping and Looting 23. How the CIA Sent Nelson Mandela to Prison for 28 Years 24. The CIA and Drugs: Just Say "Why Not?" 25. Being the World's Only Superpower Means Never Having to Say You're Sorry 26. The United States Invades, Bombs and Kills for It...but Do Americans Really Believe in Free Enterprise? 27. A Day in the Life of a Free Country External Links * Rogue State at archive.org Category:Libertarian Socialist Wiki Category:William Blum Category:US Imperialism Category:Books